"The first encounter, in the opening episode "The Man From Ohio," comes just after Garfield, played by Michael Shannon, secures the Republican nomination. An eager, fanboying Guiteau, portrayed with impeccable precision by Matthew Macfadyen, emerges from a crowd to shake the man's hand. Director Matt Ross frames the gesture as an omen, a flicker of the moment when Guiteau's reverence will curdle into violence."
"But it is the second meeting that bottles the show's idea of Guiteau more fully. It transpires in the third episode, "Casus Belli," unfolding after we've watched him stumble from one disappointment to the next, chasing after a delusional sense of Providence. Convinced he deserves a post in Garfield's administration because he stumped for the candidate (without sanction and to almost no one), Guiteau spends much of the series"
Death by Lightning follows Charles Guiteau's obsessive, delusional quest for recognition and patronage in President James A. Garfield's orbit. Guiteau meets Garfield twice: an early public handshake and a later private audience. The handshake is framed as an omen of violence. Guiteau repeatedly seeks a government post after campaigning with minimal impact, irritating officials like Secretary of State James Blaine. He is presented as a blowhard humbled in Garfield's presence, emotionally trembling and pleading for friendship and help. Matthew Macfadyen captures Guiteau's needy vulnerability, while Michael Shannon portrays Garfield; Matt Ross directs the moments to emphasize foreboding and human fragility.
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